Riverside School Board Homeschooling Guidelines
1. CONTEXT
New regulations for homeschooling came into effect July 2018 and were amended July 2019, resulting in many changes in the roles and responsibilities of school boards.
The guidelines in this document will allow children who receive instruction at home to benefit from the services, provided by the regulations, according to procedures established by the school board.
Relations between school boards and the parents of these children must be characterized by a high degree of cooperation, while respecting the rights and obligations of each.
2. LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
- Education Act, Ch. I-13.3, s. 15 p. 1 subpar. 4, s. 231, and s. 448.1
- Homeschooling Regulation, Ch. I-13.3, r. 6.01
- Basic School Regulation, Ch. I-13.3, r. 8
3. DEFINITIONS
Designated school: School designated by the school board to provide services, textbooks, and or equipment;
Textbook: School textbooks on the approved list of the Ministry of Education as established under section 462 of the Education Act and approved by school principals for use at RSB schools (Homeschooling Regulation, s.20). Reference books (e.g. grammar, dictionary, etc.) and workbooks are not textbooks.
Available: Physically located in the designated school and not currently being used or planned for use by teachers in that school during the period covered by the application;
Child: For the purposes of this document, the term child refers specifically to a child who is receiving homeschooling according to the Basic School Regulation and the Homeschooling Regulation and who is of school age, pursuant to section 1 of the Education Act;
Accompanying person: Parent or adult over 18 years of age, designated by the parent, who accompanies the child during his or her presence at the designated school. This person may not accompany more than four (4) children at any one time. All accompanying persons must have a valid Declaration Concerning a Judicial Record (police check) deposited with the school board prior to entering the school facility.
4. OBJECTIVES
- Ensure that the school board’s legal obligations are respected.
- Allow children to receive services provided for in the Homeschooling Regulation from the school board.
- Establish the procedure to be followed by parents of children when they wish to make a request for support from the school board, pursuant to Division 5 of the Homeschooling Regulation.
- Establish the procedure to be followed by parents when they wish to have their child’s progress assessed by an evaluation imposed by the school board and, if applicable, by an evaluation imposed by the Ministry of Education but applied by the school board, all under paragraphs 1 and 4 of section 15 of the Homeschooling Regulation.
- Establish the procedure to be followed by parents to allow their child to be evaluated to earn credits required for the issue of a diploma recognized by the Minister of Education under section 23.1 of the Homeschooling Regulation.
5. PRINCIPLES
- The child may benefit from certain services, as prescribed in the Homeschooling Regulation, from the school board, subject to availability and in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in this document and in the designated school’s Code of Conduct.
- Services are provided to children, not to their parents or the accompanying person. The parent who teaches at home, or the person accompanying the child, is not a teacher within the meaning of the Basic School Regulation, the Homeschooling Regulation, and the collective agreements.
- A service, material, or resource provided to a child shall not compromise its use or benefit to a group or to all students enrolled in a designated school.
6. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF STAKEHOLDERS
6.1 Director General
The Director General is responsible for the application of this document in collaboration with the Educational Services department.
6.2 Educational Services Department
The Educational Services department is responsible for the application and dissemination of this document to any designated school, and all school board employees involved in servicing the homeschooling parents and students.
In the case of a homeschooled child, the Educational Services department is responsible for verifying registration and declaration, and for following up on any compulsory board-wide or Ministry evaluations as well as any other requests by the parent for services, resources and/or facilities.
6.3 The Principal of the Designated School
The principal of a designated school is informed by Educational Services of parent requests for use of facilities or resources in a designated school.
6.4 Parent
A parent wishing to homeschool their child must refer to the following website and official government guidelines and regulations: http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/en/school-boards/support-and-assistance/homeschooling/
When using or benefiting from the services of the school board, the parent is responsible for respecting and ensuring that their child also respects the provisions of this document, any school or school board policy, as well as the Code of Conduct as established by a designated school. The parent is responsible for requesting the Code of Conduct of the designated school within which their child will be accessing services, resources or facilities.
The parent is also responsible unless he/she has delegated this responsibility to an accompanying person, for the supervision and safety of their child when he/she is on the grounds or in an establishment of the school board.
The parent is responsible for
informing him or herself of any school or school board closures.
6.5 Child
The child must at all times respect the rules of the school board as well as those of the designated school, in particular, the Code of Conduct, when he/she is on the grounds or in an establishment of the school board.
6.6 Parent and Child
Under no circumstances may a parent, accompanying adult, or child use language or behavior that is vulgar, threatening, defamatory, or discriminatory in any way.
No photos or videos may be taken or published without the written consent of the people appearing in them.
Under no circumstance may a parent, accompanying adult, or child possess or distribute content that is violent, hateful, indecent, sexual, defamatory, or discriminatory in any way.
Under no circumstance may a parent, accompanying adult, or child participate in prohibited or illegal activities of any nature.
The School Board or designated school may take action in accordance with the Code of Conduct or board policy, including the withdrawal of access to services, resources or facilities.
7. IMPLEMENTATION
7.1 General Provisions of Application
To benefit from the support or services of the school board, the parents of the child must first complete the following procedures:
- Have followed government guidelines and procedures regarding application for homeschooling http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/en/school-boards/support-and-assistance/homeschooling/
- Have proceeded with the notice to the school board;
- Have provided the school board with the following documents:
- A copy of the notice sent to the Ministry of Education and proof of receipt;
- A current copy of the learning project (updated with any revisions).
- Have formulated in writing through the forms provided any request for services, resources or access to facilities or evaluations. The forms are presented in the appendices of this document.
When at a designated school, the parent or accompanying person must carry a valid photo ID at all times.
When at a designated school, the child, parent, or accompanying person must adhere to any security procedures of the school.
7.2 Evaluations
Evaluations offered by the school board to homeschooled children are:
- evaluations imposed by the school board;
- evaluations imposed by the Ministry of Education and administered by the school board;
- evaluations to earn course credits required for the issue of a diploma recognized by the Minister of Education.
Parents complete a Request for Evaluations, Appendix 1A or 1B, and submit it to the school board by October 31st of the current school year.
The child shall report to the designated school or to the school board on the scheduled date and at the mandated time. Only the child will be admitted to the room where the evaluation is to be conducted.
At the parent’s prior request, Appendix 1C, if possible and with the resources available, the child may benefit from the necessary adaptive measures in accordance with the Ministry’s rules. In the case of these adaptive measures, the child must use the technological tools available at the school board, it being understood that they will be lent only for the duration of the exam.
The child’s parent will receive the result of the exam by email or postal mail after the correction unless the child is in Secondary 4 or 5. In the latter case, he/she will receive a statement (Achievement Record) directly from the Ministry of Education. The evaluations, which are the property of the school board or the Ministry, must remain confidential; parents and students will not receive any copy of the correction or evaluation.
7.3 Learning Resources
- School Textbooks
The child may access, free of charge, textbooks that are approved by the Ministry of Education, identified in the approved learning project, and in use at RSB schools (Appendix 2A, 2B and 2C). Textbooks will be tracked by Educational Services.
Parents are required to sign the Loan of Textbooks Agreement form (Appendix 2D).
No child may individually have more than two textbooks per subject at the same time. Under no circumstances may the child have two identical textbooks at the same time.
Borrowed textbooks shall be returned to the school board by the last weekday before June 22 of each school year. It is the parent’s responsibility to return the textbooks on time and in the same condition as when they were borrowed.
Textbooks are loaned for one school year at a time. If parents need to borrow a textbook for more than one year, they must return it before June 22 and apply for it again for the next school year.
In the event that textbooks are not returned or returned in worse condition than when borrowed, parents will be charged for a replacement book.
- Instructional Materials
Instructional materials include the digital library, math problems (digital files), math manipulatives, technology tools, and teacher guides, as per the availability.
The child may benefit, free of charge, from the instructional material related to his/her learning project if it is available at the time of application (Appendix 4A) from the school board, subject to the following exclusions:
- any document that would jeopardize the confidentiality or validity of the evaluation process in effect in the schools of the school board;
- any material that cannot be shared due to copyright, including material produced by teachers, the school board, or an external organization;
- any online material from a resource external to the school board for which access or a paid license is required.
The material made available to the child is limited to the material made available to RSB students, free of charge, pursuant to the Education Act and the policy on fees.
Under no circumstances may the child alter the instructional material made available to him/her.
The accompanying person and the child must sign and agree to comply with the safety rules inherent in the use of any technology equipment and materials presented in Appendix 4B.
7.4 Complementary Services
The services of the following professionals shall be made accessible, subject to their availability, the school board taking into account the needs of the child and the connection to the learning project:
- Guidance counselor
- Special education consultant
- Psychologist
- Psychoeducator
- Speech and language pathologist
The school board determines the child’s needs based on the information provided in Appendix 5.
For psychology, speech and language pathology, psychoeducation, and particular guidance counseling services, a recent report written by an external professional in connection with the requested complementary service is required and must be attached to the form presented (Appendix 5).
It is important that the professional’s report is detailed regarding the difficulties encountered. If the child has attended school in the past and a school board professional has produced a relevant report, it could be accepted as an external professional’s report. Only professionals in the disciplines listed in Appendix 5 are admitted as external professionals.
The school board is then responsible for informing the child’s parents of the services available and providing these through a designated school or at the school board.
7.5 Facilities
In order to be able to access the school board’s premises at a designated school, the parent must submit, at least 15 working days before the requested date, the form presented in Appendix 3A as well as the proof of the accompanying person’s Declaration Concerning Judicial Record (police verification check).
The school board cannot guarantee the exclusive use of a room. In the event that requests to use a facility exceed its capacity, requests will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
The school board may refuse access to resources if it considers that the health or safety of persons may be compromised.
The school and school board reserve the right to interrupt an activity experienced by a child on its premises if the child, or the accompanying person, does not comply with policies, code of conduct and the safety instructions given by the responsible person designated by the school and/or school board. In these situations, the school board also reserves the right to require the departure of the child and the accompanying person from the premises.
Under no circumstances may the child be left alone on the premises and/or in the room. Therefore, the accompanying person must remain with the child at all times.
Access to the premises is limited to
the child and a maximum of two (2) accompanying persons. For safety reasons, children under school age are
not allowed on the premises, except in exceptional situations for children
under one year of age when they are in the company of their parent. Only the
child who receives homeschooling can be present, participate and use the
equipment and premises provided.
The following premises will be available in the designated school and according to the schedule established by the school board:
a) Library/Computer access
The child can consult bibliographic and documentary resources on site.
A school board employee is present during the periods of availability in order to offer the child support in the use of the school library’s documentary resources.
b) Arts Facilities
The child may only use the material and equipment necessary for the artistic activity in connection with his or her learning project described on the form in Appendix 3A and made available to him or her by the school or school board.
c) Science Laboratory
The accompanying person and the child must sign and agree to comply with the safety rules inherent in the use of the science laboratory presented in Appendix 3B.
The child may only use the laboratory equipment and materials necessary for the scientific activity, deemed safe by the school board, in connection with his or her learning project, described on the form in Appendix 3A and made available to him or her by a laboratory technician, designated by the school or school board, present in the lab.
A person designated by the school or school board is responsible for the premises and is present at all times.
d) Physical Education Facilities
The accompanying person and the child must sign and undertake to respect the safety rules inherent in the use of the sports and recreational facilities presented in Appendix 3C.
The child may only use the equipment necessary for the sporting or recreational activity in connection with his or her learning project described in the form presented in Appendix 3A and made available to him or her by the school or school board employee.
- Auditorium
The child may only use the facility and equipment necessary for the activity in connection with his or her learning project described on the form in Appendix 3A and made available to him or her by the school or school board.
Education Act – Homeschooling Regulations